Chase Tinker & The House of Magic (4 page)

Andy wrinkled his nose. "What the heck is
that?"

"Your half-birthday between your tenth and
eleventh years," said Grandfather. "It happens to everyone in our
family."

"It does?" said Chase.

Grandfather nodded. "Each Tinker always comes
into his or her own special ability at exactly 10½."

"But I don't like having this power!" cried
Andy. "I want it to go away."

"Oh no, you certainly don't want that," said
Grandfather. "It's part of our legacy."

"Legacy?"

Grandfather clicked his tongue and blew out a
puff of air. "I can see your father has told you nothing." He began
eating again, scraping the fork across his plate. "Nothing!
Ridiculous! So much explaining to do," he mumbled to himself. "I
should've known. I should have expected this. Irresponsible!" He
glanced at the bewildered boys. "Come on, boys, let's eat up. We
have some very important matters to discuss after dinner."

Shaking his head, Chase wandered into the
kitchen to get himself another plate of spaghetti. This had to be
the strangest day ever.

While he ate, Chase kept sending Grandfather
sideways glances. He noticed Andy doing the same thing. It was
going to take some major getting used to having a new family member
around they thought had been dead all these years.

Chase swirled noodles onto his fork.
So,
according to Grandfather,
he thought
, this power stuff
started when I turned 10 ½.
He thought back. But, no matter how
hard he tried, he wasn't able to remember when he'd made an object
move by itself for the first time. Why hadn't his dad ever told
them about it? He must have known about the half-birthday thing. It
sure would've helped to know
something
!

"All right," said Grandfather, after they'd
eaten and cleaned up. "Show me your magic."

Chase wiped his sweaty palms on the seat of
his pants and demonstrated his power, which Grandfather called
telekinesis, by making a pillow hop across the couch. It almost
worked fine until it jerked high into the air, bounced off the
ceiling and exploded, blasting feathers everywhere.

He groaned. "Oh, man!" Maybe he just wasn't
cut out for this magic stuff.

"Hm. Excellent job anyway, Chase," said
Grandfather as he spit out a few feathers. "Soon you'll be
magicking things with hardly a thought."

When Andy's turn came, nothing happened. He
swished and waved his hands until his face turned purple. "It sure
worked in the park and on Mrs. Pagel and Snookie-Dork when I didn't
want it to!"

"I wouldn't worry about it, Andy," said
Grandfather. "We'll work on it later. I remember your Great-Uncle
Thomas when we were boys. He had all manner of problems with his
power. For the longest time, whenever he sneezed, he teleported
himself to the oddest places. One day, I had to climb to the
rooftop and pry him out of the chimney." He chuckled softly. "Those
were the days."

"Does Great-Uncle Thomas live with you?"
asked Andy.

"No. I'm sorry to say, he's no longer with
us," said Grandfather. "He hated wearing his spectacles, you see,
and he had terrible vision. One day he teleported himself squarely
in front of a locomotive. Never saw it coming." He sniffed and
pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe a tear. "Ah well,
enough melancholy prattle, boys. It happened long ago. Don't worry,
your powers will improve."

Andy pulled his glasses from his pocket and
slipped them on. "Poor Great-Uncle Thomas," he murmured.

"Why didn't Dad tell us any of this stuff?"
asked Chase as he stomped around gathering feathers. "It sure
would've been nice to know something!" He waved a fistful of
feathers at Grandfather. "And come to think of it! What about you?
Where the heck have you been? Why are you just showing up now?"

"After he chose to leave, I never wanted to
interfere in my son's life," said Grandfather gravely, tucking his
handkerchief away. "One of my many mistakes, I must admit. Thank
goodness his sister, your Aunt Clair, kept me informed of any big
events in Benjamin's life."

"We've never met Aunt Clair," said Andy.

Grandfather shook his head and sighed. "It
appears your father decided not to expose you to any of our magic.
Well, it's time we had enough of that nonsense. I realize you boys
have a right to be angry, but we need to put the past behind us so
you can begin to learn all you need to know. Even more so since
Clair told me Benjamin had been captured."

"Captured!" said Chase, dropping onto the
couch and forgetting about the feathers splattered everywhere.
"
That's
what happened to him? But—but
why
? And who
would want to take our dad, anyway? We don't have any money to pay
a ransom, which no one even asked for!"

"The world has some—people who would do
anything to gain our magic," said Grandfather.

"Who are these people?" said Andy, shivering
and glancing around as if he expected someone to suddenly pop out
from behind the curtains. "Would they want to take Chase and
me?"

"Don't you worry about any of that," said
Grandfather sternly. "I won't let anything happen to either of
you."

"So what about our dad?" exclaimed Chase. "Is
he okay?"

"I truly hope so," said Grandfather.

"Have you been trying to find him?"

"Clair wanted to do it."

"By
herself
?"

"She's perfectly capable," said Grandfather.
"And she knew her brother would not want to be rescued by me."

"How come?"

Folding his hands behind his back,
Grandfather wandered around the living room and looked at the
pictures on the walls of Chase and Andy from when they were
younger. "From the beginning, your father hated being magical."
Chase glanced at Andy, who just picked at a scab on his knee. "He
never wanted the responsibility it entailed. Benjamin wanted to
live a normal life and forget all about the world of magic. We had
a dreadful falling out and, sadly, we parted and he never returned
home."

"Why didn't you make things up later?" asked
Chase.

Grandfather paused to consider this. "My son
is a stubborn man. And so am I. Neither of us wants to admit when
we're wrong. An annoying trait." He sounded as though this was one
quality he wished he didn't have.

"He let us believe you were dead!" said
Chase.

"I'm sorry our appalling feud has caused
these problems," said Grandfather, shaking his head.

"Why do we have these powers anyway?" cried
Andy. "I liked being normal!"

"Normal! Why be normal when you can be
magical?" Grandfather raised his arms and twirled. Bright, red and
orange sparks shot from his fingertips, followed by dozens of
purple and yellow-stripped frogs, sapphire-blue canaries, and
flashing shamrocks that drifted down like huge, green
snowflakes.

Chase jumped to his feet with his mouth
hanging open as a frog sailed through the air and plopped right on
the top of Andy's head. He staggered back, tripped over a
footstool, and tumbled to the floor. The sounds of croaks and
tweets echoed around the room. Chase stared down at the small frog
sitting on his sneaker then he looked up at Grandfather, who now
had several canaries perched on his head and shoulders. Ten seconds
later, everything vanished.

"And that, my dear boys, is why I love
magic," Grandfather said calmly, as if it were no big deal to shoot
birds and frogs from his fingertips.

Andy was still sprawled on the floor with his
eyes bulging when a barrage of questions burst from Chase. "Will we
ever be able to do that? Why do we have these powers? Where do they
come from? What's Dad's power?"

Grandfather laughed and held up his hands. "I
realize you wish to know everything at this moment, Chase, but it's
getting late. We'll save those questions for later. What I want to
do is invite you to come spend the summer with me in our house on
Blackberry Island in northwest Washington State. There you will
learn everything you need to know about your magical heritage."

"Come visit you? Really? Cool!" exclaimed
Chase. The boys had never been out of New York City. He flopped
onto the sofa, his excitement deflating like a fly-away balloon. "I
bet Mom won't let us."

"I'll come by tomorrow and speak to your
mother," said Grandfather. "I'm sure we can work something
out."

"If we go, will we meet Grandmother too?"

"No," said Grandfather. "I'm sorry to say
that lovely lady has left us, many years ago, in fact."

Chase frowned. He still had way too many
questions that needed answers. "But—but don't we need to be here
for when Dad and Aunt Clair get back?"

"Clair knows where to go," said
Grandfather.

"Should we tell Mom about him?" asked Chase.
"It might help her feel better."

"It's probably best we wait until we have
good news to share," Grandfather answered. "I see no reason to
worry the dear lady even more."

"So do you think she knows anything about our
powers?"

"I don't know, but we'll find out."

C
hase woke up early
the next morning. Sunlight peeked through the half-open curtains as
he lounged drowsily, feeling cozy and comfortable. It was summer
vacation, his favorite time of the year…

He jerked up as if he'd just won ten million
dollars in the lottery as he remembered everything that happened
the day before. They were going to spend their summer break at
Grandfather Tinker's house. This was the most incredible thing to
ever happen to him.

Chase leaped out of bed, whipped off his
pajamas and pulled on his blue shorts and a faded green t-shirt. He
needed to pack! Dashing to the closet, he pawed through the piles
of junk until he found what he was looking for: a huge canvas bag
that had once belonged to his dad. He yanked the bag from the
closet and tossed it on his bed.

It took only a short time for him to stuff it
with the things he thought he'd need. Since money was tight these
days, most of the clothes were older or purchased from secondhand
stores, while some of the shirts were cast-offs of his dad's. But,
at that moment, Chase couldn't care less because, for the first
time in a long time, his body hummed with hope and happiness.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" mumbled
Andy's sleepy voice from under his blankets.

"Sure, why not?" answered Chase. "It'll be
cool to go someplace different for a change."

"Yeah, but—"

"Look, anything we can learn about these
magical powers is a good thing. I know you wish you didn't have
yours, but you do, so you might as well at least learn to control
it." Chase thought of his own magical goof-ups. "And I sure want to
control mine."

He was struggling to zip the over-stuffed bag
shut when he heard loud knocking at the front door. "He's here!
Come on, dork."

"I'm not a dork. Dork," said Andy
grumpily.

Lugging the heavy case, Chase wrenched open
the bedroom door and stumbled down the hallway in time to hear his
grandfather say, "Anne, I know it's been a long time. It's lovely
to see you again."

"
Hiram?
"

Bursting into the room, he saw Grandfather
remove his cap and bow smartly to his mom.

"And, Chase, awake and ready for the day, I
see," said Grandfather, placing his hat on the sofa.
"Excellent."

Chase dropped his bag and goggled at them.
"You guys know each other?"

Grandfather winked at his grandson as he
handed the large paper sack he carried to him and took Anne's arm.
"Why don't we seat ourselves and have some delicious muffins,
croissants and orange juice for breakfast? Fresh from the corner
bakery."

Andy wandered into the living room, rubbing
his face and yawning. "Did someone say breakfast?"

Anne frowned at Chase. "Did you know about
this?" she mouthed, before turning back to Hiram. She held up her
hand. "Hold it! What is going on? Why are you showing up here now?
Out of the blue? And after years of absolutely no contact! And
why
is Chase carrying that old bag?"

"Grandfather came by to see us last night,"
said Chase quickly. "He invited us to come visit him for the
summer!"

Anne pulled away from Grandfather and crossed
her arms. "I don't know if Benjamin would approve." She paused.
"And—and anyway, he's…gone right now."

"I know. I've discussed it with the
boys."

"So you know where he is?" she said,
narrowing her eyes. She looked even more worn-out than usual. Chase
gulped, feeling guilty again for causing so much trouble.

Grandfather shook his head. "No, Anne, I'm
sorry I don't, but you and I need to talk."

"I don't know what else we have to talk
about," said Anne, sticking her chin in the air. "After all this
time, I still haven't forgotten how you and Ben came very close to
completely ruining our beautiful wedding."

"They did?" exclaimed Chase.

Grandfather sighed as he gently nudged them
to gather around the dining table. "Your mother invited me to come
here for your parent's wedding, without speaking to Benjamin," he
said, while pulling food and cups of orange juice from the bag and
passing them around. "She thought it would be a wonderful surprise,
but instead, he was highly upset. I made matters worse by insisting
it was time for him to grow up, accept his responsibilities, and
come home. I'm quite ashamed to say we had a dreadful quarrel and I
stormed out before the wedding even began. I know it's long in
coming, Anne, but I truly am sorry for being so horribly rude. Now
that I look back, I have only myself to blame for all the trouble.
I only wanted things to be back the way they should've been
before…" His voice trailed off as he shook his head. "Too many
regrets."